If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will remember that I posted about my husband suffering from Sepsis back in December and January. Then in March he had part of his toe amputated due to MRSA he probably contracted during his hospital or nursing home stay. Now doctors say he has cancer…
I covet your prayers!! The enemy is attacking my little family left and right and I need the family of Christ to come together against these attacks once and for all. I guess I must be doing something right to be attacked so badly, so often. Our son is 16 now and has autism. Still non-verbal, still my greatest gift and joy next to salvation and eternal life through Christ. My mom has alzheimers. I suffer from spinal stenosis and deal with back pain regularly.
But this post is about my husband who is suffereing the most, at present.
Greg has been diagnosed with squamous cell cancer. He has a tumor on his neck/head the size of a baseball. You can see it in the photo, though it has grown considerably since I took this photo. –>
He is scheduled to undergo surgery on Tuesday and will be hospitalized 5 days afterwards. They have to operate in two stages. The first 5 hours will be to remove the tumor and any other areas that need it.(There are 3 others smaller areas). Then another five hours for reconstructive surgery where they will take skin from either his chest or thigh to replace the skin that’s removed on his neck.
This will be at the Cleveland Clinic.
Three weeks later he will undergo radiation treatments for about 6 weeks. That will occur in Cleveland.
My small family consists of my husband, our son (who is 16 and autistic, non-verbal) and myself. We are all disabled.
Greg had a kidney transplant in 2011 after which he has to remain on immunosuppressants for the rest of his life. These drugs help his body avoid rejecting the kidney, but they also greatly reduce hiss immune system and makes him more susceptible to other illnesses.
That makes this cancer treatment so much trickier because they have to monitor him closely as they take him off the immunosuppressants did he can heal after surgery, but during that duration he is at risk for kidney failure.
We live an hour and a half drive from Cleveland near Mansfield.
Another issue is that on his way home from an appointment a few days ago, he hit a deer and (probably) totalled our only running vehicle (still waiting to hear back from our insurance company). We have a rental car through tomorrow but his surgery is the next day.
I don’t know how we can afford the rental car after the insurance company stops paying for it. The contract is only through Monday and surgery is Tuesday. I’m praying they will extend the time we can keep the rental car.
There will be a lot of trips to Cleveland and back for my son and I during surgery week, then when radiation begins (3 weeks after surgery) there is up to 6 weeks of getting him to Cleveland daily for that.
The average cancer patient in our area can get radiation here in town, but due to his complex medical situation with his kidney it has to be done there, the doctors tell us, where his specialists are.
My husband suffered sepsis in his knee in December and January, then had part of his toe amputated in March due to MRSA, now cancer…
I asked his surgeon and oncologist why this keeps happening. They explained about the risks the immunosuppresants create. Even though they help him retain his new kidney, they put him at risk for anything else.
Those who know me, know how much I hate doing this… but several people asked me to set up a GoFundMe page, and if you share this, it may help us through this season of trials.
It’s so hard to be humbled in any situation, but when it comes to asking for help the stress multiplies as people may think you are trying to scam them or make money off a situation. They don’t know the person on the other side of the screen and how genuine they are. God does, and I’m trusting Him to get us all through all of this, but also to provide through it all. He is so faithful.
Any help for getting him to surgery and treatments and meals for my son and I during surgery week and the six weeks of radiation is so much appreciated.
I had no idea what amount to ask for, and the GoFund Me default is $1,000 so I just left it at that. Any help at all is much appreciated.
We are a Christian family and I’ve laid this at the foot of the cross. This funding was suggested by several members of Facebook groups I’m a part of, and I’m humbling myself to place this as part of trusting God to get us through.
I know the Lord will bless you for any help you may offer. Thank you ❤
I truly appreciate your PRAYERS mostly, as I know God is good and faithful, and He listens to the prayers of His children.
I’ll be doing my best to keep you all updated here and my mirror blog, SincerelySapphire.com
God bless you!
oh, BTW: I’ll have a lot of time during my waiting room hours to work on June’s scripture writing challenge, and our other monthly plans and challenges, so I’ll do my best to get that done as well.